How “A Little Something Extra” encouraged young people to organize vacations for people with disabilities

A phenomenal success that inspires vocations? A little something extra has exceeded 10 million admissions at the cinema, Saturday August 17. Screened in theaters since the beginning of May, Artus’ first film is not only the biggest success of the year at the French box office, but also the biggest French hit since the Covid-19 pandemic. Carried in particular by actors with disabilities, the comedy tells the story of the escape of two criminals, father and son, who, to escape the police, hide in the middle of a summer camp for young people with mental disabilities.

For some of its viewers, the feature film was even a source of inspiration. Strengthened in their choice by what they had seen on screen, they supervised their very first adapted stay during the summer. Six of these neophytes recounted their experience to franceinfo. Both the moments when reality was confusingly similar to fiction and those when it deviated from it, sometimes painfully.

In January, Eulalie responded to an ad on Facebook offering to supervise several adapted stays during the summer. The 20-year-old nursing student, a scouting enthusiast, saw it as an opportunity to“to learn, both personally and professionally”. A few months later, she goes to the cinema to see A little something extra. She says today that the film helped her to “to project” in a universe that was completely foreign to him.

“The bond that is created between Artus and the holidaymakers in the film moved me. I hoped that I too could experience this big family atmosphere.”

Eulalie, 20 years old

to franceinfo

For Noah too, discovering Artus’ film, what’s more “in preview”allowed to raise “a blockage” facing this “big leap into the unknown”confides this law student who joined for the first time this summer the team of companions of a friend, director of an adapted stay. An impression shared by Safia, 19, who has been maturing for several months the project of becoming a specialized educator. The young woman even sees in the film a “reference”which she then plans to use for her summer job.

For Thibault, however, seeing the comedy at the cinema was not enough to calm his worries before leaving. The 25-year-old pharmacy student chose to accompany a stay of “six people with severe mental disabilities” in July, syears Never to have “framed anyone before.” So, when he introduced himself to the holidaymakers, he decided to play fair, revealing to them his stress at the idea of ​​doing wrong. “They told me: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you!’ That swept away all my anxieties.”he says, a smile in his voice. Eulalie, too, praises this “instinctive use of the informal “tu” and this “incredible simplicity in exchanges” which immediately put you at ease.

Thibault found the stay “trying”he greets a “extraordinary experience”in accordance with “the spirit of summer camp” transcribed by Artus’ film. He particularly remembers the last evening of the stay. For the occasion, he decides to organize an outing to a bar which is broadcasting the Euro football championship. The holidaymakers spent the week demanding match scores. They are “overexcited”. “For we, itEast “It was trivial, but for them it was a dream.”Thibault is still moved. When they arrive, “the looks of others” bar patrons are curious, but “not at all negative”. “Muscular guys helped us carry a armchair electric on the terrace, not at all up to standard”, says the student. With this finale, Thibault hopes to have shown himself “up to par” holidaymakers waiting “all year round” this little trip.

There “complicity” represented on screen “sticks to reality”confirms Justine, 24, stay manager since 2021. A little something extra has even become a common cultural reference between animators and vacationers. “They often come out with cult lines from the film that make everyone laugh.”the young woman rejoices.

However, “Not everything is so rosy” than in fiction. Marco, a 23-year-old engineering student who took part in his very first trip, near Sète (Hérault), became particularly aware of the weight of the organization. It is always necessary “think about medication”, invisible in the film, and above all carefully plan the program in advance: “RBooking an outing for a group on a suitable stay requires preparation months in advance.” Thibault thus realized to what extent activities for people with reduced mobility are not common. “We wanted to do Rouen Cathedral, but we couldn’t because there were one or two steps, that’s enough to ruin a day.”sighs the young man.

He also had to learn to manage human situations that were as new as they were delicate, as the story goes. Eulalie, who nevertheless appreciated “the very good atmosphere” of her stay near Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine). The young woman will not forget “this lady who refused everything, saying ‘no, no, no’…” The companion found herself confronted with the fear of“infantilize” the disabled vacationer.

Young supervisors must learn to work without instructions and with a “fatigue” growing.

“At first, I managed to be extremely patient, repeating the same thing twenty times, but the further the stay goes on, the harder it is to stay patient.”

Marco, 23 years old

to franceinfo

To avoid disappointments, Justine, the stay director, took care not to hide the difficulties of the job of guide. “The first thing I said to the new people who arrived after seeing the film is that in real life, we work 24/7, with a lot of responsibility and stress,” underlines the young woman.

Safia, who went to Vendée to look after – with another supervisor – five holidaymakers with mental disabilities, considers the film “realistic”with a few minor details. The first is musical: the film’s soundtrack, Click click pan pan by Yanns, does not resonate in her minibus, which vibrates rather to the voice of Johnny Hallyday. The second, less anecdotal, hides in the moments of sadness or shame that she must manage on a daily basis, without prior experience. “There’s this vacationer that I love, who dances, sings, helps others, and tells me one morning, in a very small voice, that she wet the bed, that it’s not her fault.”she breathes, before putting things into perspective. “But with her, it’s easy, I remind her that she’s on vacation, not at home, and bam, it starts again in a fraction of a second,” the young woman is pleased, but admits that it is not always easy to be confronted “to privacy” holidaymakers.

“For all beginners, the hardest momentsthese are the first aids to washing”confirms Eloïse, 25, who has been supervising stays for five years. “When the first shower is done, I see them come back relieved to have crossed the cap“says this recently graduated school teacher. Thibault, 25, was dreading this moment: “It was the first time I handled another man’s penis, but I quickly understood that for him, there was no problem, so for me neither in the end”the student wonders. Pauline, who had gone to supervise 10 holidaymakers for two weeks in Corrèze, was quickly put to rest on the issue: “I saw them all naked in the bathroom and, actually, there was no embarrassment at all”she relates. “They don’t care don’t care totallythey are used to it, so let’s go happily!”adds the 28-year-old woman.

Jérôme Durand, volunteer president of the Bien-Etre Tourisme Loisirs Handicap association, which offers adapted holidays for adults with intellectual disabilities in Rhône-Alpes, takes an optimistic view of these new recruits full of good will. Recruitment is “hard to close” every year, and the manager hopes that “Artus’ film brings a lot to the future”. Of course, He finds fault with some points in the film, such as “the caricature of the grumpy old cook who prepares disgusting dishes” or the fact that, in reality, the people who supervise the summer holidays are not the same people who follow the participants the rest of the year or else, “very marginal”.

But “The most important thing is that the film perfectly describes the good mood that reigns during an adapted stay”he rejoices. He therefore expects “have a lot of requests next year” from young people who have passed the theoretical part of the aptitude certificate for the functions of animator (Bafa) after having seen A p‘tit extra thing and who wish to validate their practical training during a suitable stay. But he anticipates a pitfall: “Today, this internship cannot be validated in an adapted vacation structure”deplores Jerome.

The subject is particularly delicate, after several incidents that have increased the State’s vigilance on security issues in this type of stay. At the end of July, holidays in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence were notably suspended by prefectural decree after “serious adverse events”including the disappearance of a participant for almost a day. In 2023, a violent fire ravaged an Alsatian gîte, causing the death of 11 people. Tragedies likely to arouse a certain reluctance to recruit inexperienced young people.

However, this is the key factor for a successful stay, according to Jean-Louis Garcia, president of the Association for Disabled Adults and Young People (APAJH), convinced that the “freshness” of these companions, their “inventiveness” and their “audacity” are essential to create a “breath of fresh air” to vacationers. However, he advocates the establishment of solid guardrails. “In our stays, at least 50% of the leaders have the Bafa and have already worked with us in previous years” he explains, considering that the “tutoring” is an essential component for a successful stay.

Aspiring companions must also follow “three days of training” systematic, while there are no rules on the matter at the national level, as pointed out in the latest report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (PDF document: page 37), published in May, which recommends “to make the two-day training period compulsory and paid”. IWe must also accept that “sometimes it doesn’t worktempers Jean-Louis Garcia. After 48 hours, if the young person still doesn’t feel it, it’s better to stop.”

The president of APAJH also hopes that Artus’ film will generate “vocations”, or even “the wonder” for these companions who make it possible to realize the “right to holidays for disabled people” And “the right to respite for caregivers”He recalls two students whom he asked why they were spending their vacations on this summer job rather than other, more lucrative ones: “One of them answered me: ‘I’m looking for a little extra soul.’ He understood everything.”